Mad Men: Show Renewed for Season Six; Matt Weiner Signs for Three Seasons,

Published: April 1, 2011

Lionsgate and AMC have finally closed a new deal with Mad Men creator Matt Weiner. They’ve contracted with him for up to three more seasons of the successful series and have also renewed Mad Men for season six. AMC renewed the show for season five several months ago but negotiations have delayed the start of production.

Here’s the joint press release from AMC and Lionsgate:

AMC AND LIONSGATE ANNOUNCE MULTIPLE SEASON DEAL FOR “MAD MEN” WITH MATTHEW WEINER SIGNING LONG-TERM AGREEMENT TO CONTINUE AS SHOWRUNNER

New York – March 31, 2011 – AMC and Lionsgate today announced the return of the iconic series “Mad Men” for seasons five and six with series creator Matthew Weiner back on board as showrunner. Concurrently, it was announced that Weiner has signed a new long-term deal with Lionsgate, extending into a possible seventh season. The announcements were made by Charlie Collier, president of AMC, and Kevin Beggs, president of Lionsgate Television Group.

When AMC debuted “Mad Men” in July 2007 it quickly became one of the most talked about series on television. Set in 1960s New York, “Mad Men” is a sexy and provocative original drama that follows the lives of the ruthlessly competitive men and women of Madison Avenue advertising. Produced by Lionsgate, “Mad Men” has made television history as the only cable series to win the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama and the Golden Globe for Best Television Series-Drama for three consecutive years.

“I want to thank all of our wonderful fans for their support.” said Weiner. “I also want to thank AMC and Lionsgate for agreeing to support the artistic freedom of myself, the cast and the crew so that we can continue to make the show exactly as we have from the beginning. I’m excited to get started on the next chapter of our story.”

“AMC’s original programming began with a mission to create bold storytelling of the highest quality, and ‘Mad Men’ was the perfect expression of that commitment. We’ve been proud to support this show from the day we read Matt’s ground-breaking pilot script and have loved building it with Matt and Lionsgate into the cultural phenomenon it has become,” said Collier. “For everyone involved in the show and its passionate fans, we are thrilled to announce that the series will continue on AMC under the exceptional vision of Matt Weiner.”

“We are proud to continue our successful relationships with AMC and the brilliantly talented Matt Weiner, whose vision has created one of the most distinguished series on television,” said Beggs. “We also appreciate the passion and patience of ‘Mad Men’ fans around the world who have been awaiting this good news, and we believe they will be rewarded with many more seasons of this extraordinary and groundbreaking series.”

About AMC
AMC reigns as the only cable network in history to ever win the Emmy(R) Award for Outstanding Drama Series three years in a row, as well as the Golden Globe(R) Award for Best Television Series – Drama for three consecutive years. Whether commemorating favorite films from every genre and decade or creating acclaimed original programming, the AMC experience is an uncompromising celebration of great stories. AMC’s original stories include Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead and The Killing. AMC further demonstrates its commitment to the art of storytelling with curated movie franchises like AMC Hollywood Icon and AMC Complete Collection. Available in more than 96 million homes (Source: Nielsen Media Research), AMC is owned and operated by Rainbow Media Holdings LLC, and its sister networks include IFC, Sundance Channel, WE tv and Wedding Central. AMC is available across all platforms, including on-air, online, on demand and mobile. AMC: Story Matters Here SM.

ABOUT LIONSGATE
Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF) is a leading global entertainment company with a strong and diversified presence in motion picture production and distribution, television programming and syndication, home entertainment, family entertainment, digital distribution and new channel platforms. The Company has built a strong television presence in production of prime time cable and broadcast network series, distribution and syndication of programming through Debmar-Mercury and an array of channel assets. Lionsgate currently has 15 shows on more than 10 networks spanning its prime time production, distribution and syndication businesses, including such critically-acclaimed hits as “Mad Men,” “Weeds,” and “Nurse Jackie” along with recent series such as “Blue Mountain State” and the syndication successes “Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne,” its spinoff “Meet The Browns,” “The Wendy Williams Show” and “Are We There Yet?.” Its feature film business has generated more than half a billion dollars at the North American box office in the past year, fueled by such hits as THE EXPENDABLES, which was #1 at the North American box office for two weeks, THE LAST EXORCISM, TYLER PERRY’S WHY DID I GET MARRIED TOO?, KICK ASS and the critically-acclaimed PRECIOUS, which won two Academy Awards(R). The Company’s home entertainment business has grown to more than 7% market share and is an industry leader in box office-to-DVD revenue conversion rate. Lionsgate handles a prestigious and prolific library of approximately 13,000 motion picture and television titles that is an important source of recurring revenue and serves as the foundation for the growth of the Company’s core businesses. The Lionsgate brand remains synonymous with original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the world.

It might just be the cynic in me, but it’s hard to take “feel good” press releases like this seriously given the previously publicized details of the deal between AMC and Matt Weiner (including forcing him to trim two principle actors a season). But maybe that stuff didn’t make it into the final version? Who knows, we’ll see.